Gang lawn mower



Oct. 20, 1936. (3. c. WORTHINGTON 2,058,048

' GANG LAWN MOWER Filed March 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVENTOR.

1936. c. c. WORTHINGTON 2,058,048

GANG LAWN MOWER Filed March 9, 1953 I s SheefS-Shet 2 VIE-A403.

( BY q Oct. 20, 1936, c. c. WORTHINGTON 2,058,048

GANG LAWN MOWER Filed March 9, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I m e llviiirozz.

Patented Oct. 20, 1936 t 7 Q UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2,058,048 I GANGLAWN Mownn Charles C. Worthington, Dunfield, N. J.

Application March 9, 1933, Serial No. 660,079

19 Claims. (01. 567) The invention relates to the manner of organareclasped, hooked or otherwise engaged prefizing and connecting a gang oflawn mower units erably to the axle of the unit, but with sufiito avehicle chassis to constitute a power gang cientlooseness so that theunit can rock or tilt lawn mower, the units being spaced and held ininthe vertical plane of its own wheel axis inde-' 6 proper overlappingrelation so as to mow a compendently of the vehicle wheels and therebyac- 5 posite swath on curves as well as straightaways commodate allkinds of ground undulations, but and being arranged at the same time tobe lifted being nevertheless held at all times square to the high abovethe ground, so as to allow the vehicle direction of travel. to surmountand pass over curbs .and like ob- As thus connected the front unit isarranged structions as sometimes necessary when the apto b if d by ahoisting means rr ed on he 10 paratus proceeds from one field ofoperation to chassis, to a pos on well above the ground, as another. findicated in Fig. 6, this position being high The drawings illustratethe new organization enough to e p y Ordinary Obstacles passed in apreferred form, Fig. 1 being a side elevation Over by t e Ve c T e hoistmechanism comof the gang mower. prises a cable 7, which runs from thespool 8 of l5 Fig. 2 i a. rear view, partly in s ti n, of a a hand winchon the chassis over a guide sheave rear it; 9 and thence around a pulleyI0 on the unit, the i 3 a plan detail of t from; t; end of the cablebeing appropriately fastened to Fig. 4 a plan view of the rear part ofthe the chassis. The pulley I0 is connected to the mower; unit through arigid bridle frame H, fastened to 20' Fig. 5 a longitudinal verticalsection on line the side castings of the unit and the pu is V-V of Fig.4 and a centrally mounted thereon above the cutter Fig. 6 a similar viewwith the units elevated. I mechanism a d above r slightly f rwar of heAccording to this invention the gang of u it is center .of mass of theunit, so that when the hoist connected under and behind the rear end ofa is p a e forward p O t e u t does not 25 motor vehicle chassis I ofany suitable design, tend to droop or sag and lifts the draft links 5but one having light weight, as otherwise its to the upturned positionindicated in Fig. 6. wheels are likely to rut the soft turf of the lawnThe unit can be hoisted, if desired, until it makes being mowed. Thevehicle should also have a contact with the underside of the chassisframe 0 short wheel base and a short turning radius so in which positionthe rearwardly extending side that it. can be easily maneuvered.Otherwise it girders will become located between the ground may beconstructed according to conventional wheels ofthe unit and the tops ofthe latter will design but preferably is provided with a suffibe abovethe level of the chassis frame, as indicient overhang of its frame,beyond the rear axle cated in Fig. 6. In addition to forming an aptoaccommodate the connectionv .of the lawn propriate central hoistingconnection for the 35 mower units thereto. This overhang may conunit,the bridle frame II, by the location of cersist of rearward extensionsof the side girders or. tainof its parts between the draft links 5,serves frame members of the chassis brought together to retain the unitagainst displacement in sideso. that the frame is of less width at thispoint wise direction relatively to the draft links. For than thedistance between the ground wheels of this purpose the bridle frame hasfingers l2 de- 40 the lawn mower unit, for a reason which will pendingbetween and below the normal level of presently appear. the draft links5.

The gang in the present case comprises three The winch above referred tocomprises a identical lawn mower units of conventional deworm-drivenwinding shaft carrying the spool 8 sign, although more than three couldbe organfor the front unit and a larger spool l3 for the 45 ized withthe vehicle within the principle of this rear units. It is operated by acrank on a verinvention, as will presently appear. Each unit tical axis,located at the side of the operators comprises a pair of ground rollersor wheels seat, but it could obviously be power-operated if marked 2,with rotary fly knives, indicated by desired. 7 dotted circles, driventhereby and a rear gauge The units of the rear row, being two in number50 roller 3. The front unit is secured to the chassis in the presentcase, are connected to the motor or to the rear axle housing 4 thereof,or any other vehicle by linkages which give them perfect freechassispart, so that the axis of its ground wheel dom of movement toaccommodate ground unduis close to the vehicle axle. The means ofconlations and also to turn through horizontal angles nection comprisetwo pivoted draft links 5, which. when the vehicle is rounding curves,but always 55 holding proper tracking relation with the unit or units ofthe front row, so that they continuously overlap their swaths and thislinkage is so arranged that both units can be lifted high above theground, when desired, similarly to the front unit. This draft means isalso so constituted that when these units are lifted, they are alsoshifted forwardly, closer to the rear axle of the vehicle, the purposeof such shifting being to bring their weights closer to the rear axleand thus reduce the tendency for the front wheels of the vehicle to liftoff the ground. The units are heavy and their aggregate weight whensuspended from the rear overhang of the chassis frame, even in athree-unit gang, is likely to take so much weight from the front vehiclewheels as to interfere with steering and of course the tendency toover-balance is aggravated when the front wheels are driven up ontocurbs and the like, the vehicle wheel base being short, as stated.

While the forward shifting of the rear units can be produced in variousways, the method believed to be simplest comprises the use of a draftbracket I6 for each unit, which is hinged to the chassis overhang, asindicated at I1, so that it can swing forward from its normal position,which is vertical. In this normal position, indicated in Fig. 5, theupper part of the draft bracket bears on and is stopped by the rear faceof a cross bolster I8 on the chassis frame. Each rear unit is connectedto the hinged draft bracket I6 by its draft frame I9, which latter ishooked and pinned loosely over the cross rod 20 of the unit and providedwith a front hook or clevis 2| for connection with the eye in the draftbracket I6. Bridle frames I I similar to that on the front unit areprovided also for the rear units and also have the fingers I2 forretaining the unit against sidewise displacement with reference to itsdraft frame. The point of attachment of the draft frame I9 to the hingeddraft bracket I6 allows freedom to the rear unit to tilt in the plane ofits own wheel axis and turn in horizontal angles and also to rise andfall relatively to the motor vehicle and the other units, as will beapparent.

The rear units are connected to the winch through the intervention of arock shaft 22, journalled on the cross bolster I8 and having a centralpower arm 23 connected by cable 24 and pulley 25 to the large spool I3of the winch. Each end of the rock shaft 22, directly above the draftbracket I6, carries fast thereon a crane arm 26 forked at its extremityand connected by chains 21, two for each unit to the bridle frame I I.The points of connection of the chains 21 to the rear unit are justforward of the center of mass of the unit, so that the unit risesproperly when lifted. In such movement the weight of the unit thruststhe draft bracket I6 forwardly, as indicated in Fig. 6, allowing theunit to come to rest in its uppermost position, bearing, if desired,against the cross bolster I8 with one of its wheels. It will be seenthat in this way both the front and rear ranks of units, in theirelevated positions, are brought closer to the rear axle 4 of the motorvehicle, so that their joint leverage on the latter is least likely toproduct any objectionable upward moment on the front part of thevehicle. The front unit is shifted forwardly by virtue of the arcuatemovement about their hinge axis of the draft links 5 and the rear unitsby virtue of the compound arcuate movements of both the draft bracket I6and draft frame I9. The rear units are lifted higher than the front unitin order that they will not be too close to the ground when the frontvehicle wheels are mounting an incline. It will now be noted that thewinch spools 8 and I3 are of different diameters in order to give eachrank of units the appropriate elevation by the operation of the singlehand crank. They and their cables are so designed as to draw the unitstightly up against the under portions of the frame and thus keep themfrom swaying when the vehicle is moving over rough ground. The frontunit may thus bear on the underside of the bolster I8 and the rear unitsagainst the back face of it.

The hinged draft brackets I6 can be locked in their vertical or draftpositions, if desired, so as to keep the rear units properly spaced fromthe front unit, as for instance when the machine is operating downgrade, and this can be accomplished automatically, if desired, as byforming an interlock or other appropriate connection between suchbrackets and the rock shaft 22 or the crane arms 26 thereon. Forexample, the bracket may be provided with a locking lug 29, which isoverlapped by a keeper 30 formed on the crane arm when the latter is inits lowered position and the chains 2'! are slack, the mowing condition.The draft bracket cannot then move either forward or back but when thecrane arm is lifted,

it becomes free to swing forwardly as already explained. In the processof lowering the unit and in the event the draft bracket should notattain its vertical position until after the crane arm has reached islowest position, the top side of the lug 29 is curved, as indicated, at29 (Fig. 6) in order that it may cam itself into its interlockingrelation as soon as the vehicle starts.

The following is claimed:

1. In a gang lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a gang of lawn mower units infront and rear ranks, means for connecting the rear rank to the vehiclebehind the rear wheel axis thereof, said means including a draft framefor a rear unit having a forwardly-shiftable point of draft attachment,and unit-hoisting means on the vehicle adapted toshift it.

2. In a power gang lawn mower, the combination with amotor vehicle andtwo ranks of lawn mower units connected therewith to operate behind therear wheel axis thereof, the rear rank being forwardly shiftable fromthe normal working position thereof, unit-hoisting means on the vehicleconnectible with all of the units and having a lift range suited tosupport them off the ground, and a lock for the draft connection meansof the rear rank.

3. In a power gang lawn mower, the combination of a motor vehicle, frontand rear ranks of lawn mower units connected to operate in rear of thevehicle by draft members, the units being pivotally related to saiddraft members, bridle frames for said units and hoisting mechanismhaving connections to said units forward of their centers of mass.

4. In a lawn mower, a motor vehicle, means for connecting a lawn mowerunit thereto comprising a draft frame for the unit, a forwardlyshiftabledraft member mounted on the vehicle, a pivotal connection between saidframe and member, and a unit-hoist on the vehicle adapted to lift theunit off the ground.

5. In a gang lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a front rank lawn mower unitconnected thereto to operate close to its rear wheels and a second ranklawn mower unit connected to operate at a predetermined mowing distancebehind said front rank unit, said second rank unit being conon curves,and hoist meansfor closing up:the dis-* tance between the frontvandlrear units when the weight of, theunitsis borne by saidhoist 7. Inagang lawn mower, combination, a

motor vehicle, a front.rank lawn? mower unit;

haying draft means whereby it is. connected to operate close to the rearvehicle wheels, a second rank lawn mower unit having draft means wherebyit is connected to swing in horizontal angles, and said last mentioneddraft means being forwardly shiftable on the vehicle, and means on thevehicle for forwardly shifting said last mentioned draft means.

8. In a gang lawn motor, a motor vehicle, a front rank lawn mower unithaving draft means by which it is connected thereto to operate close tothe rear vehicle wheels, a second rank lawn mower unit having draftmeans by which it is connected to operate at a predetermined mowingdistance behind said front rank unit, said draft means including a draftframe horizontally jointed to said unit and connected by a universallyflexible joint to the vehicle, said universally flexible joint beingforwardly shiftable on the vehicle, and means on the vehicle forforwardly shifting said joint.

9. In a gang lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a gang of lawn mower units infront and rear ranks, means for connecting the rear unit or units to thevehicle, said means comprising a forwardly-shiftable draft frame for arear unit and a forWardly-shiftable draft member to which said frame isconnected movably mounted on the vehicle, and a unit-hoist on thevehicle provided with connections for lifting and forwardly shiftingsaid rear unit. a

10. In a power lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a forwardly-shiftable lawnmower unit connected thereto to operate in rear of the rear vehiclewheel axis, in combination with unit-hoisting means on the vehicle, andhoist connections between said means and unit organized to pull the unitforwardly and lift it from the ground.

11. In a power lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a draft bracket hingedthereto and adapted to swing forwardly from its normal draft position, alawn mower unit flexibly connect-ed to said bracket, and means forconjointly lifting said unit and forwardly swinging said bracket.

12. In a gang lawn mower, a motor vehicle, a forwardly-shiftable draftmember thereon, a lawn mower unit connected to said draft member, andlock means forsaid member operating to prevent forward shifting thereof.

13. In apparatus as described, the combination with a motor vehiclechassis having front and rear road wheels and an engine carried on theforepart of said chassis, of a front rank lawn mower unit includingcutter-driving ground wheels and having draft means whereby it isflexibly connected to said chassis to operate between the rear wheelsthereof, a rear rank lawn mower .unit including cutter-driving groundwheels having draft means separately connecting it to said chassis toswing in horizontal angles behind said first mentioned unit, hoist meanson the vehicle, a hoisting connection running therefrom to lift thefirst mentioned unit and another hoisting connection runningtherefrom tolift said other unit, said hoisting connections running direct to saidunits independently of the draftrmeans of said units and both adapted tohold said driving ground wheels out of contact withuthe ground.

v14. In apparatus of the its engine mounted on its forward part andhaving a hoist means thereon, a front rank lawn mower unit connected tothe rear part of said chassis to operate close to the rear vehiclewheels,a rear ranki lawn mower" unit connected to swing in horizontalangles behind said first mentioned unit, a short range hoistingconnection running kind described, the combination ofa motor vehiclechassis having from said hoist means to said first rank unit adapted tolift its ground wheels off the ground, and a longer range hoistingconnection running from said hoist means to said other unit adapted tolift its ground wheels a greater distance off the ground.

15. The combination of a motor vehicle chassis carrying a hoist meansand having its frame structure extended in rear of its point of supporton the rear axle, a front rank lawn mower unit including cutter-drivingground wheels connected to the chassis to operate close to the rearaxle, a rear rank lawn mover unit including cutterdriving ground wheelsconnected to the chassis to swing in horizontal angles in rear of saidfront unit, a hoisting connection running from said hoist means to saidfront unit adapted to lift its ground wheels out of contact with theground,

and a hoisting connection supported on said rearwardly extended framestructure running to the other unit and adapted to lift the groundwheels of the latter unit to a greater extent out of contact with theground.

16. The combination of a motor vehicle chassis carrying a hoist meansand having its frame structure extended in rear of its rear axle, afront rank lawn mower unit including cutter-driving ground wheels andprovided with draft means whereby it is connected to the chassis tooperate between said rear wheels, a rear rank lawn mower unit providedwith cutter-driving ground wheels and with draft means whereby it isconnected to trail said front unit, a hoisting connection running fromsaid hoist means to said front unit adapted to lift its ground wheelsout of contact with the ground, and a hoisting connection supported onsaid rearwardly extended structure, running to the other unit andadapted to lift its ground wheels out of contact with the ground, saiddraft means for each unit comprising two pivotal joints each permittingvertical movement of its unit and said hoisting connections beingattached to said units independently of said draft means and joints.

17. The combination of a motor vehicle chassis carrying a hoist meansand having its frame structure extended in rear of its rear axle, afront rank lawn mower unit including cutter-driving ground wheels andconnected to the chassis to operate between said rear wheels, a rearrank lawn mower unit including cutter-driving ground wheels andconnected to swing in horizontal an-- gles behind said front unit, ahoisting connection running from said hoist means to said front unitadapted to lift the same out of contact with the ground, and a hoistingconnection including a crane arm journalled on said rearwardly extendedframe structure and connected to said trailing unit and adapted to liftthe ground wheels of said unit out of contact with the ground.

18. The combination of a motor vehicle carrying a hoist means and havingits side girders extended in rear of its rear wheels, a front rank lawnmower unit including cutter-driving ground wheels and connected to thevehicle to operate close to said rear wheels and below said rearwardlyextended girders, a rear rank lawn mower unit including cutter-drivingground wheels and connected to the chassis in rear of said front unit, ahoisting connection running from said hoist means to said front unitadapted to lift its ground wheels from the ground and toward saidgirders so that the tops of said ground wheels are above the levelthereof, and a hoisting connection running to the other unit supportedon said rearwardly extended girders and adapted to lift the latter unitto a higher elevation than the front unit.

19. The combination of a motor vehicle chassis and a lawn mower unitincluding cutter-driving ground wheels, said chassis comprising sideframe members extended rearward of the rear vehicle wheels and separatedfrom each other by a space less than the space between the ground wheelsof the unit, and said unit being connected to the vehicle to operatebelow the level of said rearwardly extended frame members, a hoist meanson the chassis, and a hoisting connection running therefrom to said unitadapted to elevate said unit to a position in which said frame membersare between its ground wheels.

CHARLES C. WORTHINGTON.

